In the last lesson I talked about what to look for when buying a sitar. There are a few more points I'd like to cover on that subject. But first I'd like to thank everyone that email, called, wrote to me about how much you are enjoying RagaNet and these lessons. I also had some special requests to write on specific topics. One such email was from a person who had an unfortunate mishap. The gourd on his sitar broke during shipment from India. Knowing there are many others in the same predicament, I have decided to do a little writeup on how to go about fixing broken gourds. So here goes.....

What is a gourd?
Gourd is of the pumpkin family. In India they are grown especially for musical instruments such as the sitar, tanpura, veena, ektara etc. They are light and form a natural resonance chamber. They can be cultured to grow symmetrically although perfection in roundness is rare but possible. Interestingly, I've heard that when the gourd gets to a certain size, the growers will dig a round hole in the ground and the gourd will be put inside the dirt hole and it then grows to the size and shape of the dirt hole.

As the gourd matures it is dried out and the seeds are removed. The inside is cleaned and it is ready for use. The outside shell now is quite hard. Some instruments as the veena use the whole gourd whereas the sitar, tanpura, ektara will be designed around a chopped half section (see illustration above).

A gourd can look deceptively sturdy. A majority of them sustain damage during shipment. Sometimes I think that alone can keep the sitar industry from going bankrupt. Other mishaps happen due to improper storage. Some people will damage it when trying to stand the sitar up vertically on its gourd and walk away from it to have a cup of chai and a person walking by will accidently knock it down. Many times I have seen instruments roll off the stage and fall to the floor. I had an instance where one of my students used to carry his sitar to lessons in a bus. Once he accidently knocked a hole in the gourd while trying to get out of the bus. The moral of this story? ..... have a carrying case for your instrument!

Here are some questions to ask yourself when embarking on a gourd repair

• What is the extent of the damage? - A different approach is needed for a minor as opposed to a major surgery.
• Do you have all the pieces? If so, collect them in a plastic ziplock bag.
• Do you see any visual damage at the point where the strings are tied?
• Does the gourd have termites? Indian termites are very very small. But they carry a big bite. I have seen some gourds that have small holes all over. This can, over time, result in a gourd fracture or a sudden hole in the gourd when it receives any kind of a hit. This one is a tough repair. Usually the termites have also moved into the wood and even into your books! If you find this sort of damage, fumigate everything in sight!
• Make note of the color of the gourd. Is it a stain or a natural clear varnish? If it is stained (usually brown or black) you need to match this with a good quality stain from your lumber yard.

  Tools you will need
  

• Epoxy glue
• A sharp utility knife
• A flat wood spatula (about 1/2" wide)
• Wood stain
• Natural bristle brush about 3/4" wide / or a soft lint free piece of cloth and some cotton
• Fine (00 grade) and medium grade sandpaper - a good supply
• Steel wool (fine grade)
• An assortment of clamps for gluing the pieces together
• A good quality Wood filler about 1/8 quart
• Medium rough metal file
• small wooden wedges about 1/32 or 1/16 of an inch thick and about 1/4"wide

  The Repair begins!
  The first thing to remember is that a gourd has a soft interior but a hard outer shell. I have found that a slow drying epoxy glue works best. It dries hard as a rock and that is important. So let's take a few samples of cracked gourds and explain how to repair them.

  1. Hairline cracks

  If they are almost invisible, leave them alone. The sitar will probably sound fine. The damage is hardly noticeable. Just don't bang it again in the same spot. Get a case and you'll enjoy the sitar for many years to come.

  2. Visible cracks between 2" - 6"

  These types of cracks can be easily seen. Or, by applying a little pushing force with both hands around the gourd, the crack pops open. Sometimes these cracks create a tonal buzz while playing. This needs to be taken care off.

  Procedure:

  If when you apply force with both hands, the crack opens up enough, stick a small wooden wedge to keep it open. Then mix the epoxy and shove it into the crack with the spatula. Make sure it enters the crack. The best test of this is when you are done pushing the epoxy into the crack, remove the wedge and you will immediately see some of the epoxy ooze back out of the crack. This is a good sign. Take a rag and clean the excess epoxy. Now let this dry for 24 hours. After it is completely dry observe the area. There should be no movement in the crack. It's fixed! If you have cleaned the excess epoxy well, it is probably not even necessary to do any sanding etc. If the finish looks good then go ahead and enjoy your sitar!

  3. Cracks longer than 6"

  Procedure:
  

  This is where the fun begins. These cracks may have tributaries. They sometimes look like lightning; like a tree branching into multiple cracks. The best way to handle this is two fold:
  First fix the cracks that can be wedged open - as given in the previous example - then, after the main crack has dried.
  Now fix the branching cracks. These should look almost like hairline cracks. To fix these use your utility knife and scratch right on top of the crack surface. Yes, you are trying to increase its width. The reason for this is that by increasing the width, you are in fact creating room for the epoxy. I usually scratch out a groove about a 32th of an inch. Blow off any dust or dirt and fill this groove with epoxy. Clean the excess epoxy and let it dry for 24 hours. The next day you'll notice the the place you had scratched and filled with epoxy will probably have a little sunken area where the epoxy shrank after drying. Use some wood filler to cover this and sand the area smooth. Stain and varnish.

  4. Small holes in the gourd (1/4" to 1/2" round)

  These are very easily fixed by substituting a wood plug that you can either make using a piece of 1/8" paneling or any type of easily carvable wood. Just use your utility knife to scratch the surface of the gourd around the hole such that it is chamfered inwards. Do the same to the wood plug but in this case chamfer it outwards. A little grinding to make the fit perfect and then glue it into place. Let it dry and then sand it until it blends with the gourds contour. Stain and varnish.

  5. Large holes in the gourd (1" to 3" round)

  These are a bit tricky. Since it is very hard to access the gourd from the inside you have to create a way to put a wire mesh behind the surface of the gourd. Here's how.....

  You're going to need a rigid wire mesh screen. Screen density should not be about 1/64th of an inch. You'll also need some bondo.. yes it's the same fiberglass stuff you use to repair your car!

  Use your utility knife to chamfer all around the hole just like in the previous example. This is to ensure that the fiberglass material will sit over the gourd like a cap while also giving it a stronger surface contact.

  Now cut the screen mesh about an inch larger than the hole. Tie a piece of thread to the center of this mesh and coax it into the hole. Don't drop the thread into the gourd! Now apply a generous (and I mean thick!) coating of the epoxy to the inside surface of the gourd around the hole. I usually wear a surgical glove and use my index finger to do this. Pull the mesh up by the thread until it sinks into the epoxy. You can even tie the thread on some thing above. Leave this be for 24 hours.

  The next day you should find the mesh nice and tight and ready for the filling job.

  Now you need to mix the bondo according to instructions. Use the applicator and apply an even coating to cover the hole. After it dries, sand it slightly and apply another coat. You should observe the contour of the gourd and design the coverage accordingly. File the excess and use the fine sandpaper to bring it to a smooth finish. Stain and varnish.

  6. Shattered Sitar Gourds

  Shattered sitar gourds are like a jigsaw puzzle. These are the most time consuming to repair. You will have to use a combination of the techniques given above. The most important thing to remember is that you need to collect all the pieces. Take stock of all the gourd pieces and do a mock up if possible. Many pieces will fit perfectly without any trouble. Use epoxy and a few clamps and join these before you do anything else. Soon you'll find that out of the many pieces you now only have to glue together a few. It is important to remember to take it slow. But the tools are the same as described above. You will probably end up with a few holes because the pieces shattered into dust. These holes can be fixed as shown above. After everything is clumped together use wood filler and sand everything smooth. Stain and varnish.

  Issues:

  1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9

  ---

  
  

  CATALOG ARCHIVES RAGANET RAGMALA MIDI PANDIT GURU SHISHYA S.D. BATISH ASHWIN BATISH CONCERTS INSTRUMENTS LINKS CD, DVD DUPS

  
  
  
  
  
  

  email: info [at] batish.com

  copyright ©1995 - Present Time ---- Batish Institute. All rights reserved. Intended For Personal Use Only. No part of the information here may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information and storage retrieval system, without specific written permission from the Batish family.